Page 85 - Tomb of Annihilation

The statue is actually a deactivated shield guardian and find out what they're after. He'll even bring them
that once served as a wizard's bodyguard. The wizard back to the ship and trade gems for wine, if they have
died from extreme bad luck decades ago-he fell out of a any. Unless the characters are accompanied by Bwayes,
tree during a particularly bad bout of mad monkey fever, the vegepygmies are hostile toward them.
hit his head on a rock that knocked him unconscious, If the characters befriend the wcretiger and inquire
and rolled into a puddle, where he drowned. The shield about other places in Chult, he shares the following
guardian has stood impassive and unmoving, awaiting information:
orders. ever since. A character with proficiency in the
• The bones of a great dragon lie in a grotto to the
Arcana skill recognizes the shield guardian for what it is
southwest. (Bwayes can lead characters to Needle's
with a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) check.
Bones if they ask him nicely.)
A character who searches the area and succeeds on
• Between the River Olung and the Nsi Wastes lie the
a DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check finds footprints in
ruins of a once-beautiful garden palace said to contain
the dirt- evidence of nomadic tribes of goblins, grungs,
treasure beyond compare. (Bwayes can lead the char-
and vegepygmies that revere the construct as a lesser
acters to Nangalore but won't explore it out of respect.)
god. They trim back the jungle vines and creepers that
would otherwise swallow the construct, and they leave
TREASURE
offerings at its feet. The area around it for several miles
The weretiger's cabin contains enough scavenged gear
is a "neutral zone" where these tribes allow each other
to create a set of cartographer's tools and a set of leath-
to enter without triggering conflict.
erworker's tools, as well as an herbalism kit. A battered
Anyone who finds the shield guardian's control amulet
wooden trunk near the weretiger's hammock holds an
(see "Yellyark," page 89) can animate the construct
explorer's pack, a spyglass, a set of Three-Dragon Ante
and take control of it. Reactivating the construct and
cards (the weretiger doesn't know how to play), a leather
marching it away infuriates local goblin, grung, and
pouch containing four assorted gemstones (100 gp
vegepygmy tribes. Random encounters with such crea-
each), and two potions of healing.
tures are automatically hostile unless characters placate
the tribes with treasure or convince them ofVorn's
WRECK OF THE STAR GODDESS
"wish" to be moved elsewhere.
WRECK OF THE NARWHAL
A wooden vessel is caught high in the tree branches,
Through some magical mishap, a seafaring galleon
broken into three chunks. It resembles a ship, but there
called the Narwhal ended up in the heart of the jungle. It
are differences that mark it clearly as not a seagoing ves-
lies upside down, its hull encrusted with barnacles and
sel. The stern is the lowest piece, hanging precariously
overgrown with ivy. The crew is gone without a trace,
by its rigging about SO feet above ground. The middle
but the old ship still has occupants: a reclusive wereti-
ger and a small tribe of vegepygmies share it. Since the section appears to be 15 feet higher, and the bow section
weretiger kills more than he eats and leaves the surplus is firmly wedged into a nest of branches another 10 feet
for the vegepygmies, the tiny community gets along fine.
above that.
The vegepygmies thrive in the damp, dark area under
A weak voice calls out, "Hallo, on the ground. Can you
the ship and in its hold, while the weretiger lives more
help us?"
elegantly in the airy, well-furnished (albeit upside down)
captain's cabin.
The vegepygmy tribe consists of a vegepygmy chief,
The Star Goddess was a 90-foot skyship from Halruaa.
twelve vegepygmies, and three thornies (see appendix
It flew like a blimp, with the aid of an amazing light-
D for the vegepygmies' and thornies' statistics). The
er-than-air gasbag. A crew of Halruaan adventurers
weretiger (N male Chultan human) uses no name any-
was using it to explore Chult from the air when it was
more, but he was called Bwayes O'tamu years ago. He is
attacked by a flock of pterafolk. The pterafolk slashed
a cousin ofWakanga O'tamu (see "Merchant Princes,"
the airbag, and the vessel crashed into the jungle can-
page 25), and the two were quite close as children.
opy. As shown in map 2.13, the wooden gondola broke
The family resemblance is strong; characters who've
into three pieces, which now hang precariously in the
met Wakanga see the similarity when the weretiger as-
treetops at three different heights. The deflated balloon
sumes bu.man form. The weretiger speaks Common and
is tangled in the branches above. The crash could have
Vegepygmy, though he's forgotten much of the former
occurred anytime within the past 3d10 days.
through disuse.
Climbing up to the wreck is relatively c::a:>y, thanks
When characters enter the same hex as the Narwhal.
to many vines in the trees and lines of rigging hanging
roll any die. On an odd result, Bwayes is out hunting
from the ship. A successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics)
and automatically detects the characters' presence be-
check is enough to reach the ship from the ground. The
fore they're aware of him; on an even result, Bwayes is
same check must be repeated to move from one section
resting at the hulk, meaning characters are likely to en-
of the ship to another; alternatively, a character can
counter the vegepygmies before the weretiger. If Bwayes
jump down from a higher to a lower section with a suc-
detects the characters, he tracks them covertly, out of
cessful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
curiosity rather than blood lust. He'd like to meet them
CHAPTER 2 I THE LAND OF CHULT
81